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Thomas Davidson of Pennsylvania, Todd Cleary of California, and Jun Bai of Delaware have filed a class action lawsuit against Apple over an alleged defect that causes iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus touchscreens to become unresponsive and fail, according to court documents filed electronically this week.

The class action complaint, filed with the U.S. District Court for Northern California, accuses Apple of violating California's consumer fraud statutes, through fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of implied warranty, unjust enrichment, and for violations of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act.
Apple has long been aware of the defective iPhones. Yet, notwithstanding its longstanding knowledge of this design defect, Apple routinely has refused to repair the iPhones without charge when the defect manifests. Many other iPhone owners have communicated with Apple's employees and agents to request that Apple remedy and/or address the Touchscreen Defect and/or resultant damage at no expense. Apple has failed and/or refused to do so.

As a result of Apple’s unfair, deceptive and/or fraudulent business practices, owners of the iPhones, including Plaintiffs, have suffered an ascertainable loss of money and/or property and/or value. The unfair and deceptive trade practices committed by Apple were conducted in a manner giving rise to substantial aggravating circumstances.
The complaint, lodged by California law firm McCuneWright, LLP, seeks an order that requires Apple to repair, recall, and/or replace affected iPhones and to extend the warranties of those devices for a reasonable period of time. The plaintiffs also seek unspecified damages. A jury trial has been demanded.

The lawsuit cites repair website iFixit, which last week shared a blog post and video about the defect, nicknamed "touch disease." The defect presents as a gray flickering bar at the top of the screen and a display that's unresponsive or less responsive to touch. The problem is said to be caused by the touchscreen controller chips soldered to the iPhone's logic board losing contact after a period of normal usage.


The complaint specifically claims that Apple's failure to incorporate a "metal shield" or "underfill" over the logic board, as it did with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c respectively, makes the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus "substantially less durable to foreseeable and reasonable use by consumers and ultimately causes the touchscreen defect."

iPhone-5s-metal-shield.jpg

iFixit said the defect has affected a growing number of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners, citing its own repair shop colleagues and dozens of complaints on the Apple Support Communities. Multiple customers who brought their iPhones to Apple Stores were told that Apple doesn't recognize it as an issue and nothing could be done as their iPhones were no longer covered by warranty.

Update: Those that wish to join the class action lawsuit can contact law firm McCuneWright LLP.

Article Link: Apple Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Unresponsive iPhone 6 Touchscreens
 
Last edited:

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2009
1,437
744
First poster? Weird.

Just wanted to say, I had this issue a lot and pretty much most people I know did too. It was impossible to recreate, so I just accepted it as a "just works" bug. Sucks they are being sued, wish they'd fix it instead.
 

TomMcIn

macrumors regular
Oct 22, 2008
119
223
Canada
Haven't seen the problem yet but would be extremely frustrated if I had to pay for the repair or buy a new phone. Apple points out that their products last longer because of the quality. They should develop a fix/shield like previous models, fix all problem phones that do not show obvious signs of abuse and charge it to "Learning".
 

visualride

macrumors member
Nov 21, 2014
47
41
As someone who has been careful enough to never damage, or even scratch their iPhone since the first one in 2007, to have this problem happen without due consideration to me as a customer, I hope that this lawsuit has consequences. Even with constant vigilance for my phone in baggy jeans, the "bendgate" scenario has snagged my somehow. With even the slightest bend, which can happen quite easily and unknowingly, the phone is made practically un-usable.
 
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Deki112

macrumors newbie
Aug 29, 2016
2
5
Same peoblem I had, 2nd time! 1 month ago. In Canada, and apple charged me 450$ plus tax to remplace my phone with a refurbished one. Shame on Apple, I want my money back. And 1 year ago they exchanged ny original iphone with a refurbished.
 

Nozuka

macrumors 68040
Jul 3, 2012
3,524
5,993
Once again Apple must be forced into doing the right thing by its customers and cover this manufacturing/design defect for longer than the original stated warranty. It doesn't have to be this way Apple.

it's sad really. they have plenty of money and this would be a great way to show that they care about their customers.

keeping customers happy should be a high priority.
 

Northgrove

macrumors 65816
Aug 3, 2010
1,149
437
Hmm, yes, this seems warranted and due to shortcuts taken with the iPhone 6's frame that was hastily remedied in the 6s, but of course not very helpful to iPhone 6 users. If Apple doesn't react ASAP, I have a feeling it'll only escalate from here since it seems to be very related to normal use and age.
 
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840quadra

Moderator
Staff member
Feb 1, 2005
9,253
5,966
Twin Cities Minnesota
Yes lets join in, pad the pockets of the lawyers, and get nothing ourselves.

I am sure there are plenty of people who Apple has helped, but we won't hear about it. It's nothing about media. In tech, compliments are rare, but when people feel shorted our culture appears to reward more for complaining.

Not defending Apple, but I am not sure what people are expecting on a failure that happens outside of Warranty. Granted, it would be poor for Apple to expect customers to foot the bill for such an expensive phone that isn't even 2 years old yet. Perhaps the iPhone 7 will have a 2 year base warranty?

We can only hope.
 

SlyMac

macrumors 6502
Jun 16, 2008
294
50
I still have this problem about 1-2 times per week and Apple has basically just raised their hands and said "oh well." I will happily join this.
 
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Actaeon9

macrumors newbie
Aug 29, 2016
1
0
Apple just made a fix for this. Its called the iPhone 7, go buy it.

We will - just trying to make it till then (said the guy who's holding his together with little pieces of rubber glove stuffed under the board to induce a twist). Two weeks to go..
 

Spike Lightfoot

macrumors member
Jan 15, 2008
63
8
I've had four iPhone 6 units. The first had a microphone defect and was replaced with a fully functional unit, which I water damaged and was replaced with my third. This one had touch disease and I brought it into the Apple Store. The Apple Story guy heard my story and within 30 seconds was convinced I was due a replacement. I was back out again with a new phone in less than 10 minutes. It works fine.

I'm sorry so many others have been denied satisfaction. Maybe Apple got the message, albeit too late for some.
 
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jamesnajera

macrumors 6502
Oct 5, 2003
463
179
Hmm, I wonder if these shortcuts (the metal rigid cover and the under glue solder thing) are because of the warranty replacements Apple had to start doing for Europe, China and other countries not happy with Apples replacement policy. Remember that Apple would just replace the phone with a refurbished phone? Now in those countries and maybe the US they are replacing parts on the phone. No metal plate and no solder glue may make it easier for part replacement, but it has a longevity defect for a product with no moving parts.
 
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ardent73

macrumors regular
Jan 14, 2010
156
61
I think we kind of saw this coming after the news stories I read last week over the issue.

I saw it coming when they announced the "phablets", it was a engineering compromise to save weight, and it compromised the structural integrity of the device. That's why I now own an iPhone SE.
 
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